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techUK urges the financial sector to take the initiative and lead with technology in its latest white paper.

White Paper available for download below

techUK yesterday released a financial services white paper, arguing that the financial services industry's technological foundations are impeding the development of a fully digitised and modern financial services sector.

In the paper, techUK issues a challenge: decisive action is needed to deliver a more resilient, competitive and transparent sector, better able to respond to the demands of consumers and businesses across the UK.

The paper argues that transformation is required at three distinct levels. First, financial institutions must transform core systems to make better use of cloud technologies, allowing for an agile response to shifting consumer demand and regulatory requirements. Second, incumbents must use data and analytics to enhance performance. Third, renewed emphasis on customer experience is needed to improve customer satisfaction.

Lisa Moyle, Head of Programme for financial services and payments at techUK argues: "Technology underpins every function across the financial system, from executing trades to making payments into accounts. The challenge from new market entrants, armed with innovative technologies, the rising expectations of digital consumers, increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, and the pervasive threat of cyber-attack means that established financial institutions can no longer ignore the inadequacies of outdated legacy systems."

In order to realise successful and timely transformation, financial institutions should:

• Move faster: Strive for a more decisive and faster rate of change. Senior management needs to accelerate the transformation of their operations, informed by a clear vision of the organisation's long term goals.
• Embrace and accelerate the use of industry utilities. Capabilities that do not offer differentiation should be outsourced or transferred to industry utilities.
• Build a more structured approach to technology renewal, focusing on the use of cloud services and the more effective use of data to deliver an improved end-customer experience.
• Work alongside the regulators. Tech suppliers and financial institutions must engage with regulatory authorities to fully realise the benefit of using new, especially cloud-based, technologies.

The launch of the white paper is part of techUK's role as strategic partner for the 2015 London Technology Week - a week of events celebrating London's global position as a hotbed of tech innovation, business successes, entrepreneurship and creative talent. Organised by UBM EMEA, London Technology Week's founding partners are London & Partners, Tech London Advocates and ExCeL London.

TAKING THE INITIATIVE - LEADING WITH TECHNOLOGY IN... (PDF)